We Want Trains Not Tolls Rally: Saturday 28 June 2014

Share, share and invite everyone – lets make this rally in June absolutely massive! We Want Trains Not Tolls Rally is organised by community groups, No East West Tunnel – Take the pledge and a vast array of concerned Victorians. Meet at 1pm Saturday 28 June 2014 at the State Library of Victoria.

A rally will be held this Saturday to demand the Victorian Government scrap the East-West Link.

Harriet Mantell, affected resident and rally spokesperson, said the aim of the rally was to demonstrate to the government that the Victorian people do not want this project to go ahead.

‘The rally has three key demands: scrap the East-West Link, rip up the contracts and invest in public transport,’ Ms Mantell said.

‘Eighteen billion is too much to spend on a single road project that will only make congestion worse,’ Ms Mantell said.

‘The Government has tried to trick voters into thinking this project is a done deal. But that is by no means the case. With the government hanging on a parliamentary knife edge; a case against the project ongoing in the Supreme Court and motions passed in the Senate to dislodge the secret business case, the project is on very shaky ground,’ Ms Mantell said.

‘This rally hopes to send a strong message to Labor. If they came out now and declared they would not abide by the East-West Link contracts, they would never be signed in the first place. Parliament has this power and the justification is that these contracts would be ruinous to the state of Victoria,’ Ms Mantell said.

‘By 30 June, Planning Minister Matthew Guy is required to hand down his response to the report of the panel set up to assess project impacts of the East West Link – Eastern Section. The presentations to this panel over the month of hearings were almost uniformly scathing. How the government responds to these criticisms will be a further test of its credibility,’ Ms Mantell said.

‘We want to assert that we will not allow the Minister to brush aside the concerns of Victorian community or get away with merely cosmetic changes. The whole thing must go,’ Ms Mantell said.

Since April, representatives from Tunnel Picket and other community groups have taken the Trains Not Tolls message across Victoria, including Doncaster, Mernda, Belgrave, Ballarat, Sunbury, Geelong, Victoria Market, Frankston and Point Cook.

The rally will bring together people from all across Melbourne. It will set out a plan for the work needed in the critical months ahead to stop the East-West Link once and for all.

Rally speakers include Adam Bandt, federal member for Melbourne; Stephen Jolly, Yarra City Councillor and Karima Mohamed, a resident of Flemington public housing.

Why not hold your own #Rally4PT where you are – simply choose one of these messages, or make your own, then take a selfie holding it at your local members office, local public transport spot or of your own choosing.

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2 thoughts on “We Want Trains Not Tolls Rally: Saturday 28 June 2014”

G’day,
The request for endorsement was taken to the MAC meeting. Your campaign is consistent with our values and we are happy to support Trains not Tollroads.
Dave Saxton
On behalf of the Melbourne Anarchist Club